Species details
Fairy ring champignon
Marasmius oreades
Extra caution required
Photo: Björn S... · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Photo source · License
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Description
A small ochre grassland mushroom with a central bump, widely spaced gills, and a pleasant spicy smell.
Identification features
The tough stem bends without breaking; dried fruit bodies revive when moistened.
Identification checklist
Check the entire fruitbody for identification. A small ochre grassland mushroom with a central bump, widely spaced gills, and a pleasant spicy smell. The tough stem bends without breaking; dried fruit bodies revive when moistened. Typical habitat: On meadows, pasture, lawns, and paths, often in rings or arcs.
Detailed features
- Cap
- 2–5 cm, ochre-brown, paler in dry weather, initially convex, later flattened with a broad low umbo; may crack.
- Hymenophore
- Gills are broad, thick and widely spaced, whitish to brownish, usually not reaching the stem.
- Stem
- 4–7 × 0.2–0.4 cm, slender, solid and very tough, whitish-ochre.
- Flesh
- Thin, whitish, flexible and tough; re-expands when moistened after drying.
- Smell
- Characteristic pleasant smell of fresh sawdust.
- Spore print
- White.
Size
- Cap diameter
- 2–5 cm
- Stem height
- 4–7 cm
- Stem diameter
- 0,2–0,4 cm
Habitat
On meadows, pasture, lawns, and paths, often in rings or arcs.
Fruiting period
April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November
Ecology
- Trophic mode
- Saprotrophic
- Substrate
- Grassland
- Notes
- Grows on meadows, pastures, lawns and other grassy places, often in rows or fairy rings.
How to separate similar species
Compare especially with these similar species: Clitocybe rivulosa, Clitocybe dealbata, Marasmius collinus. Check the combination of cap shape and colour, spore-bearing surface, stem, flesh changes and habitat. A single feature or photograph is not enough; if the key characters do not match the description, do not treat the identification as confirmed.
Similar species
- Fool's funnel (Clitocybe rivulosa) DANGEROUS
Has closer, attached to slightly decurrent gills and a softer stem; toxic.
- Ivory funnel (Clitocybe dealbata) DANGEROUS
Whiter, with more crowded gills; a life-threatening lookalike.
- Marasmius collinus
Has a stickier cap, striate margin and a more hollow, brittle stem; may cause gastrointestinal upset.